No Rest for the Wicked
by blazin-ember
Summary: Rogue is unhappy with her life at the institute but what happens when her past decides to intrude on her newfound life in an unpleasant way? Incorporates ideas from this show and X-men: Evolution.
1. Enter the Past

**So, this is my first ever try at this type of thing, so I would really appreciate it if those who read this would leave me some type of feedback on how to improve the story or ideas on possible events for the story. **

**Just to let you know, I plan on using various aspects of the different X-men worlds in this story. So, if you have any questions on the story, ask away and I will try to answer them as best I can.**

**P.S I do not own the x-men in any way, shape, or form.**

'…..' = thoughts

"….." = speech

Chapter 1

'What am I doing here?' thought Rogue as she stared at the rolling ocean waves from the relative privacy of the gazebo. All day long, she had been overwhelmed with the number of people who had needed her attention or assistance. 'Seriously…why can't they give me a moment of peace?'

Of course, it didn't help that all this attention had come after a series of skirmishes in which she had to use her powers to an extent she wasn't used to. In fact, she had absorbed so many personalities that they were on the verge of breaking through her mental block she had erected to keep them from trying to gain control of her body.

'Figures…I can't even stop thinking about all the obnoxious teenagers in that horrid mansion. Maybe I just need a break form it all…like Logan, when he goes off on his own for weeks…sometimes months at a time,' Rogue thought with some humor, 'Yeah…Logan would really love that. Me…all on my own with no "protection…"'

Sigh.

The truth of the matter was that Rogue was no longer that weak little girl the X-men had first encountered years ago. She had matured mentally, physically, and had made dramatic progress with her mutant abilities. Not that she had informed any of the other X-men yet. Just thinking of the emotional outbreak from the others and physical contact involved if her progress was discovered made Rogue visibly shudder.

Rogue was not adverse to the idea of touching. It was just that…well…her control of her powers was still…erratic…at best.

'Erratic…yeah that's one way of putting it,' thought Rogue thinking about her recent blunder over breakfast Wednesday morning.

**Flashback**

_Rogue woke up vaguely disorientated from her dream._

"_C'mon Rogue! We're going to be late for breakfast," Kitty yelled at Rogue as she rushed out their bedroom door._

'_Why did I have to be stuck sharing a room with that unbearable brat,' an anguished Rogue thought, 'I mean it's not like we have anything in common.' _

_Looking about the room, this observation was clearly an understatement. Where Kitty's half of the room was slightly messy and horribly colorful, Rogue's half was meticulous and had a tasteful blend of earth tones that represented Rouge's deep need for some peace. Needless to say, the two sides of the room clashed horribly, just like their personalities often did._

_As Rogue was getting ready that morning she remembered what the professor had said during her last lesson with him concerning her control over her power._

_(Flashback two)_

"_Rogue, you need to build up some resistance to physical contact if your training is to proceed," Professor Xavier exclaimed._

"_I know professor…I…just don't know if I'm ready yet. I don't know if I'm ready for the others to know I've been working on controlling my powers." Rogue replied._

"_Well, think it over Rogue. I know this is intimidating for you but don't let your fears control you Rogue." Xavier gently responded._

_(End Flashback Two)_

'_Maybe today I'll leave off the gloves...see if I can control my powers.' Rogue contemplated as she held her gloves in her hands. 'I'll just keep my gloves in my pocket…just in case.'_

_Doing just this, she headed down to the kitchen to get her breakfast._

_Breakfast went off without a hitch…no one even noticed she had her gloves off throughout breakfast, despite frequent, quick touches that had Rogue thrilled about her use of control. Although, no one noticed because of the absolute chaos that was breakfast at the institute._

_After breakfast, Rogue headed out for some early morning exercises. On the way though she ran into Gambit….a.k.a. Swamp Rat (or Remy as known to the rest of the X-men) Normally this wouldn't have been that exceptional…except lately he had been flirting outrageously with her even knowing what her powers could do to him. _

'_Now what the heck could he want now?' questioned Rogue._

"_Ma __petite__, where you heading?" asked Gambit_

"_Morning training…same as always Swamp Rat." Rogue retorted with marked annoyance._

"_You know __chérie, __we__could__ do __some__ training __together__…just the two of us," suggested Gambit with his usual charm._

"_Like I already told you, Swamp Rat, I ain't interested!" exclaimed Rogue._

_As she said this she raised her hand to add emphasis to her statement, completely forgetting she had left her gloves off. Gambit reached up to grab her hand but in the process, Rogue accidentally absorbed his powers. Thankfully the contact had not been long thanks to some interference from Storm as she was headed down the hallway and saw the confrontation. Nevertheless, with her newfound "control" of her powers, her powers were more powerful, allowing Rogue to absorb the other's power with the added benefit of being able to recall said power over a limited period of time._

"_Rogue! You should know better than to go around without your gloves! Someone could have been seriously injured." Storm lectured._

"_Yeah, I know." Sighed Rogue as she was dealing with the impression overload still coursing through her thanks to that little touch with Gambit._

"_Don't be so harsh with her, Storm! Gambit was just talking with the girl and no real harm was done." Gambit heatedly bit out._

"_No, Remy. She's right. I knowingly endangered my teammates. That is unforgivable." Sighed Rogue._

"_I'm glad you realized this Rogue. Now, I would like you to report this incident to the Professor. Understood?" Storm ordered Rogue._

"_Yes ma'am," supplied Rogue as she turned around and headed off. _

_(In Xavier's office)_

"_Rogue, while I am glad you decided to try controlling your powers, you must remember to keep your emotions in check until you have full control." Professor Xavier remarked._

"_I know, Professor. It's just that emotions are all I have; they're the only thing I've ever had to rely on in situations. They're what I rely on." Rogue replied. _

"_Be that as it may, you must maintain control of your emotions at all times Rogue. Anything less could be…hazardous." Professor Xavier responded gently._

"_Understood, Professor," Rogue sighed gently as turned to head out of the office. 'Well, lesson learned. My powers are too dangerous to let out or control with my emotions all jumbled up,' thought Rogue. Her emotions were the power base for her mutant abilities. The stronger her emotions, the stronger her abilities reacted._

**End Flashback**

'Yeah…and I'm still having a hard time controlling his powers,' Rogue thought as she glanced down at her hands which were slightly glowing. See, since her powers allowed her to absorb other mutant's abilities, the abilities essentially became hers for the period of time she had them. This means that her emotions affected her control of these powers just like they affected her own abilities.

'Is it so much to ask for one moment of being normal?' queried Rogue.

Just then, her internal reverie was interrupted by the appearance of Kurt behind her as he poofed in.

"You know, you really shouldn't pop in on people like that, Kurt." Rogue shot at him.

"So I've been told," retorted Kurt with his usual grin.

"What do you want?" Rogue asked.

"The Professor wants you in his office…something about a message for you." Kurt supplied.

'What? A message for me. Who could it be from?' questioned Rogue. "Alright, Kurt. Want to poof us there?"

"Sure thing, Rogue"

"Ah! There you are Rogue." Professor Xavier exclaimed as Kurt and Rogue poofed into his office. Wolverine and Gambit were also present in the professor's office at the moment.

"Yes…Kurt said you had a message for me?" questioned Rogue.

"Correct. It's addressed to you from a Mrs. Maddie," the Professor replied neutrally as he watched Rogue for a reaction.

Meanwhile, Rogue felt as if her whole world had taken a leap for the worst. 'I haven't seen Maddie in…must be at least 5 years…wonder how she's doing?' Rogue thought as she tried to come to terms with what could very well be the end of her "relatively" calm life with the X-men.

"Sound familiar, chérie?" Gambit asked with concern.

"Yeah…just a bit of a shock. I haven't heard from her in years…What's the message Professor?" Rogue responded.

"I'm not sure, Rogue. There was a large box shipped to you. We asked the delivery person what it was but he just responded that he was not at liberty to discuss the contents of the package." replied the professor.

"Yeah. That's something Maddie would've seen to. So where's the package?" Rogue asked.

"Over there, Rogue." Wolverine answered.

Rogue walked over to the box. On top was a letter addressed from Maddie to Rogue. As Rogue contemplated reading the letter first or opening the box first, a strange sense of unease swept through her. Foregoing the letter in favor of the box, Rogue jerked open the box only to be confronted with an old, battered cowboy hat of no known value…that is to an outsider.

To Rogue though, that one article of clothing had a world of meaning to it. Rogue knew right then and there what Maddie's letter was going to tell her. In fact, the image of that black cowboy hat in that unassuming box did more to confirm the message than Maddie's letter ever could. That cowboy hat in that box meant her father was dead.


	2. Wicked Paradise

**So here's chapter two. If you have any questions or comments, just write them in a review and I'll see what I can do. (Actually it would be nice if you could review anyway, so I can improve my writing technique).**

**Thanks to all of you who have read and are currently reading this.**

**Disclaimer: Again, I do not own the X-men.**

Chapter 2

"_Professor?"_

"_Yes, Rogue."_

"_You know that vacation that we were discussing?"_

"_Yes. I recall."_

"_I'm thinking now is a good time."_

'Yeah…smooth intro to that one,' thought Rogue, as she stared out the window of the X-jet later that same night. 'Well…one good thing, I didn't freak out earlier.' Rogue knew that if she had reacted in any way out of the ordinary (for her), Logan, Gambit, and Kurt would have forbidden her to go anywhere. Not that that would have stopped her. Their reactions had been bad enough when she had announced her plan to go back home to Mississippi.

**Flashback**

"_What are you talking about ma chère?" Gambit asked._

"_I need to go back home for a bit. Family business," said Rogue, thinking the mere mention of family business would throw off any more arguments to her leaving. After all, the men in the room all understood the need to care for family._

"_What for, Rogue?" questioned Wolverine._

"_Like I said, Logan, family business!" Rogue said heatedly._

"_If it concerns your safety we deserve to know, Rogue," growled Wolverine._

"_There's no danger in me visiting family, Logan." Rogue replied_

"_Yeah? What about Mystique?" bit out Logan._

"…_low blow, Logan." Rogue said gently._

_Quickly, the professor cut in before any mire harm could be done, "I believe it would be fine for you to go visit family, Rogue. When would you like to leave?"_

"_As soon as possible…as in tonight," Rogue replied. This statement was met with about two seconds of silence before all hell broke loose._

_(Simultaneously)_

"_Now wait just a minute, Rogue" Kurt said._

"_You're not going without Gambit, ma chère!" exclaimed Gambit._

"_Absolutely not," Logan said._

_After about ten seconds of listening to them argue about why tonight was a bad night to leave, Rogue was fed up. Just as she turned to head out of the room to pack, the professor jumped in._

'_Enough,' Xavier commanded telepathically. Sure enough, all the men the room finally quieted down. "Now, let us proceed in a calm manner. I see no reason why Rogue can not leave tonight. The X-jet has been fueled and we have already been discussing Rogue's departure for many months now," the professor calmly told the silent group._

"_What about the MRA? You know they're setting up a new base in Mississippi," Logan was quick to point out._

"_I believe Rogue can handle herself," Xavier calmly replied._

"_Well, she's not going anywhere without me." Logan bit out._

"_I'm going too." Kurt said quickly._

"_Well…wouldn't be any fun if Gambit didn't come. No?" Gambit said._

"_No! This is my business. I don't need you all tagging along." panicked Rogue. The last thing she needed was those three getting involved in her business. It would complicate matters._

"_Too bad Rogue. We're going," Logan responded._

"_Yes, I believe that would be for the best, Rogue." the professor supplied._

'_Great…just great,' Rogue thought._

**End Flashback**

'Now I have those three bozos tagging along on a mission I don't need nor want them on.' thought Rogue bitterly. It was now three hours after departure and they were still an hour away from their landing spot. The plan was to land in a secluded spot in the swamp far enough away to avoid detection, but close enough to walk to town. Scott was then going to take off in the X-jet, leaving Rogue, Logan, Gambit, and Kurt behind. 'Well…no point in worrying about it now,' thought Rogue, 'might as well get some rest, before we land.' So, taking out her ipod and turning it on, she did just that.

"Now, the communicator to the mansion needs at least two hours to fully charge every night. After that, it should only be used in extreme emergencies. We can't have the MRD tracking the signal either to the institute or to your position." Scott explained as he prepared to leave in the jet.

"We know, Scott, we went over this before we left the institute and again while on the jet." Rogue sighed.

"Yeah. I know. I was hoping telling you three times would help you remember because you seem to get into an awful lot of trouble Rogue," Scott retorted.

'Whatever,' thought Rogue.

"I'll be back in a week to pick you all up. Try not to get into too much trouble," Scott commanded.

"Will do, Cy," Logan supplied. Scott headed up the plank way and several minutes later the X-jet was gone.

"Alright, my sister, lead the way," Kurt cheerily joked with Rogue.

'This is going to be a long week,' thought Rogue with a small smile.

Several minutes later they had made it to the edge of Rogue's hometown. "This is it," Rogue said to the small group. The three men looked up and down the street. While the town wasn't that large of a city, it was still fairly decent in size and look. It was a town that, while everyone was acquainted with each other, there was still a sense of privacy concerning one's business.

"Where we headed?" asked Logan.

"Old friend of mine's bar," supplied Rogue. The three men snapped their heads around to stare at Rogue, "What?"

"A bar?" Kurt squeaked.

"Yeah. A bar…you know…where you dance, and they serve alcohol among other things," Rogue sarcastically responded, as she started heading down the street. The three men glanced at each other before quickly heading after Rogue.

Several blocks, three left turns, and one alley later, they were at the back entrance to a bar entitled Wicked Paradise. One lone security guard was standing outside on his 15 minute cigarette break.

As Rogue headed toward the door to go in, the guard reached out to prevent her from opening the door, grazing her bare skin. Luckily (for the guard) Rogue was prepared and in control of her powers. None of the men present were aware of the close encounter.

"What do you think you're doing, little miss?" questioned the guard.

"I'm going into the bar." Rogue replied back angrily.

"Good one, kid. You couldn't be over 20, let alone old enough to enter this bar," laughed the guard. Just as he said this, the back door shot open and out popped a 6-foot-tall man in ripped jeans and a short-sleeve shirt.

"Sunshine," yelled the giant as he picked Rogue up and swung her around in the air.

"Riley." laughed Rogue.

"Saw you on the cameras. What are you doing here? C'mon inside, sweetheart!" Riley said already heading back into the bar. Rogue, seeing the shocked look on the guard's face, broke out laughing, and motioning to the guys to follow, headed into the bar after Riley.

Inside there was loud music from a live band, flashing lights, and tons of dancers. They headed towards the office on the second floor, across from the stage. Inside the office, one could see the stage and the dance floor from the one way mirror that overlooked the bar.

"Place really picked up," commented Rogue as she stepped into the relatively quiet office.

"Yeah. All thanks to you, Sunshine. Your voice was the first thing that drug people here, way back when it was just beginning." Riley said.

"You sing petite?" questioned Gambit.

"Does she sing? Hell yes, she sings. Voice worth more than this here bar." Riley exploded. AS he said this, all eyes were on Rogue as she tried to think of a way out this situation without embarrassing herself. "In fact, why don't you give them a demonstration, suga'?"

'Hell no,' thought Rogue. "Actually, we came by to get information on what's been going on the past few years. We don't have time to fool around." This last comment was directed more at the three X-men, than Riley, because Rogue knew exactly what they wanted to here, and it had nothing to do with gathering information.

"Alright, Sunshine. What you want me to start with?"

"Anything new."

"Alright…Well let's see…there's Ally…she got married to Abby's boy. Then there's the Conway's. They had a baby boy last month. There's that new mining project down south by…"

"Mining project?" interrupted Rogue.

"Yeah. Started about four months ago. Some men in suits come up to the town, claim they own some land and want to buy some of the surrounding land. The people weren't having it, so the men went to the mayor. Two weeks later. Joey's land isn't his anymore and they kicked out all the neighbors from the area. Been doing construction ever sin…What's wrong Sunshine? You looked as if you've been sucking on lemons." Riley commented.

"You just described a huge problem for us, Riley." Rogue explained.

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah. Scott's going to be disappointed." Rogue remarked.

"Why's that Rogue?" questioned Kurt.

"Oh, no real reason. Except we just found ourselves in a whole heap of trouble."

"Quit being cryptic Sunshine. Give me the reason why."

"Oh…you just told us the MRD was building their new base less than five miles from our current position. Which means our situation went from moderately difficult to high risk."


	3. The Nightmare

**Hi Everyone. Thank you to those of you who have Story alerted this story and to those of you who have "favorited" this story. Knowing that there are people who do want to read my story is exciting and makes me want to continue this story. (Hint: I might update faster if more people review********). Also, I was wondering if I should try to add in the accents of the people involved in the story. Review and let me know what you think. **

**If there are any serious typos that need to be fixed, please let me know.**

**Things have been hectic lately, so sorry for the delay. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men (though I can draw a few of them relatively well)**

**Anyway, here we go!**

Chapter 3

"Now wait just a damn minute…what do you mean the MRD?" Riley asked.

"Recent information the X-men have gathered has confirmed that the MRD have decided to build a high-tech, high-security, underground base in Mississippi. The exact whereabouts were unknown…up until five minutes ago that is," Wolverine explained to the dumbstruck barkeep.

"Not likely! I would've known months ahead of time. There is no way the MRD have made a base here in Mississippi," exclaimed Riley.

"Actually, there is a high chance that the MRD have made a base here…right under your nose, Riley," Rogue commented without emotion. "After all, when was the last time your contact sent you any information?"

Riley was at a loss for words. Sure it had been awhile since his informant within the MRD had contacted him, but that was to be expected. It was a highly dangerous job, and getting information safely out was even more hazardous than procuring a job within the fanatical organization.

Several minutes had passed since Rogue had asked her question.

"That's what I thought," Rogue stated matter-of-factly. "Your spy has more than likely been captured or is already dead. Let's hope for her sake and ours that it's the latter, because if she is still alive, everyone is in danger. She can be linked back to you, and the MRD will come after you, Riley. If they come after you, they will find us too," Rogue elucidated on the serious consequences of a captured spy.

"You know me better than that, Sunshine. Ain't no way the damn MRD are finding their way back to me. But y'all should get the heck out of dodge," Riley all but commanded.

"Yes," Kurt agreed, thinking about protecting his sister.

At the same time Rogue said, "No can do."

Kurt and Rogue looked at each other (well, Kurt more glared at Rogue, while Rogue gazed back impassively), before Rogue gently sighed and began to explain why.

"I can't leave until I've settled my affairs. After all, this is a working vacation. If it was a vacation for fun, do you really think I'd go back to my hometown?"

Riley immediately understood the implications in Rogue's statement. After all, who would want to go back to a place filled with bitter memories, especially someone like Rogue, who tended to look on the worse side of life. Riley also knew about Rogue's "affairs" that she had to complete before leaving. Everyone in town already knew about her father's death, but no one believed his daughter would come back to their town to wrap up the family affairs.

Riley knew there was no use in trying to persuade Rogue to do anything other than what she was convinced she had to, but Riley couldn't just leave her to such a dangerous expedition. He was like her big brother and a father figure all rolled up into one, and there was no way he could just let her waltz into certain trouble.

"That's exactly the reason why you should leave, Sunshine! And don't you dare pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," Riley bit out at Rogue as he slowly stood up from behind his desk.

"You've got no right bringing that up Riley! You should know that by now, after all these years," Rogue coldly snapped back.

"No, Sunshine, you needed to remember exactly what happened because that's the same kind of danger you'll be in this time around," Riley painfully explained his actions, not wanting to hurt her, but knowing he had to bring it up to open her eyes to the danger present in the current situation.

"Don't worry Riley. I'm not five years old anymore. I am more than capable of taking care of myself," Rogue bit out as she did an about face and quickly left the office, leaving the four men staring after her.

'Yeah…and you'll push everyone away…again,' Riley thought.

"What the hell were you talking about, bub?" Wolverine questioned Riley with a murderous glare. No one upset Rogue while he was on watch.

Riley, with hid head bowed, calmly replied, "You'd better ask her yourself, stranger. Ain't no way she'll appreciate it that I told y'all her secrets."

"The homme be right mon ami. We ask chère, not someone else." Gambit reflected out loud.

"Yeah…and it'll be like trying to pull out one of Wolverine's teeth…impossible," Kurt dejectedly said as they slowly marched out of the office.

'Good luck X-men. I have a feeling you'll need it.' Riley thought as the office door swung shut with a flick of Kurt's (disguised) tail.

(On their way to a hotel for the remainder of the night)

"Rogue! Wait up!" Kurt yelled to her, as the men rushed to keep up with her as she stormed off.

So slowly, as to be almost unnoticeable, Rogue did slow down, despite her anger at Riley and his mention of that incident so many years ago.

"Where we headed darlin'?" Wolverine asked as the men caught up.

"Annabelle's motel…down in the old part of town, near the swamp. Ya should feel right at home, Swamp Rat." Rogue lightly joked as they headed toward their destination.

"Ah, ma petite. That cold." Gambit cried out as he playfully grabbed the area over his heart, as if Rogue had seriously wounded him. This caused Rogue to lightly smile, while Kurt and Wolverine only groaned.

"Keep it up Gumbo, and you'll really have something to whine about." Wolverine growled.

"Hey Rogue?" Kurt shyly said to her as Wolverine and Gambit continued their banter.

"Yeah?"

"Why did Riley call you Sunshine? It seems kind of…" Kurt trailed off, embarrassed.

"..out of place, considering my personality." Rogue supplied for him.

"Yeah."

"It's because of me initials, A.M. You know as in a.m. in the morning? Use to annoy the heck out of me, but it kind of grew on me." Rogue replied as she remembered the first time Riley had called her sunshine.

"He's a good man, chère." Gambit said as he overheard the last bit of their conversation.

"Yeah…he really is," Rogue replied softly, "Only real father figure I had in my life for awhile."

None of the men knew how to respond to this, and Rogue seemed to be lost in thought. Despite the easy conversation, she knew that sooner of later they were going to ask about Riley's comments back at Wicked Paradise, and she was betting on sooner rather than later.

Soon enough, they came across Annabelle's motel; a small looking building built near the swamp (or on it as some tourists liked to see it).

Heading up to the check-in, Rogue was sure Annabelle didn't recognize her. This thought was confirmed when Annabelle treated them like out-of-town tourists.

They quickly found themselves with a two-room connecting suite. Rogue would take the smaller room while the three men would make do with the other room.

After settling in, Rogue went through the connecting door to check on the three men. As usual, she found Gambit and Wolverine at each others throats (figuratively, of course), while Kurt sat silently watching them.

"Now boys, settle down." Rogue calmly said, while she gave a mental sigh. "What are y'all fighting about now?"

The men in question had the decency to at least pretend to look like they were ashamed of the behavior. However, neither of them would answer her question. It was left up to Kurt to supply an answer.

"They were arguing about the sleeping arrangements. Gambit seems to think you need a roommate and 'kindly' offered to be your roommate for 'protection' against the MRD. Wolverine here seemed to take offense to this idea and they began arguing. I decided to settle in while they were at it. It is almost as good as watching those T.V programs."

"Well, since I don't need a roommate, problem solved."

At this comment, Wolverine gave a slight nod as if showing his silent approval for denying Gambit's advances. Meanwhile, Gambit seemed exasperated at Rogue's denial; as if he couldn't believe she kept refusing him.

"Is there anything else y'all need before I go to bed?"

The three men glanced at each other, trying to decide how to broach the subject of what Riley had said back at Wicked Paradise. Finally, Wolverine asked her in his direct, to the point, no nonsense way.

"What the hell was Riley talking about at the bar, darlin'?"

Rogue knew what he was talking about, and she had no intention of answering the question. Just the mention of the topic seemed to infuriate her. "None of your business…any of you." She said as she glared at them before turning around, leaving the room, and slamming the door behind her.

"Wolverine, mon ami, have you ever heard of the word 'tact.'" Gambit asked as he looked at the closed door.

Wolverine only glowered at the Cajun before turning around to unpack.

**Flashback **(in Rogue's dream that night)

_The cell door slammed behind the five-year-old girl as the men behind her threw her inside the cell. She didn't know how long she had been here and all she wanted was to go home, to Maddie. She knew the men had no reason to take her away from home. She hadn't been doing anything bad. She was a good, little girl who always followed orders._

'_Why are they doing this to me?' thought the little girl as she lay on the floor of the cell, sobbing as she remembered what she had just come from._

(Flashback two)

"_Strap her down. We can't have her moving around so much," the doctor irritably told the guard stationed at the head of the table. The guard moved to restrain the girl, causing her to yell even louder than she already was. "And would someone please shut the brat up, before I start to get a headache." _

_So, the little girl was bound down, and gagged, but her terrified whimpers could still be heard. The doctor slowly took several sample of blood form the girl before stepping back. He then proceeded to put the blood samples in a solution of other mutant DNA. This solution was placed on a microscope slide and set under the microscope lens. When the doctor looked through the lens, he saw the cells interacting in the normal fashion, the cells killing each other because they were incompatible, the same result that had happened every time so far._

"_Stage one of Project Poison has failed. Prepare the girl for stage two." the doctor disgustedly spit out, as he looked at the girl as if the failure of stage one was solely her fault._

_The scientists worked for the military and were being paid to harness the girl's mutant abilities, so they could create the ultimate weapon against other mutants. If this proved unsuccessful, they would find a way to control the girl's mind in order to use her as they wished; this was stage two of the project._

_As the little girl was wheeled away, her last impression of the room was of a man's voice asking the doctor what would happen now, and hoe soon results could be expected._

(End Flashback two)

_That had been hours ago and before they had subjected the girl to the horrible experience of having someone violate her mind. For hours, she had been forced to sit in a room with a telepathic mutant who had been paid by the government specifically for this purpose. The mutant had then proceeded to enter the child's mind and sweep through her memories. The child had been defenseless against the assault as the telepath had begun to try to compel her to do her bidding. However, the girl's mind refused to obey the commands of the mutant and the child fainted as the struggle for supremacy became too much. In sleep, the telepath had attempted to enter the child's mind yet again, but found strong walls present, sent up from the unconscious to protect the girl from further torture._

_The child had awakened on the trip back to her cell, where she would be left alone, until the next bout of testing from the doctor._

_In her cell, she cried until she fell asleep, only to dream of red-eyed monsters that looked suspiciously liked the doctor._

**End Flashback**

Rogue gasped as she bolted straight up in bad. She hadn't thought about that period of her life in years.

Rogue slowly got up out of bed as she thought about that incident in her life.

'Too bad I didn't know that my father was the one who sold me out to the damn military doctors. Would've been nice to know that the person I was counting on to save me was the one who betrayed me.' Rogue grimly thought as she stared out the window at the slowly lightening swamp area.

Rogue continued to look out at the swamp until it was time to get up, get ready, and leave.

(First actual day of trip)

"So where we headed today, mon chérie?" Gambit asked as they followed Rogue around town.

"You'll see, Swamp Rat. Just be patient." Rogue replied, as she walked in near silent contemplation.

They had been walking for near a half hour now, when Rogue suddenly heard a rather loud heated discussion coming from the direction in which she would've eventually headed off in. Rogue was willing to ignore said discussion until the sound of a heavy smack was heard. At this point, Rogue took off running, which took the men by surprise.

Rogue nearly lost the three of them in her quick turns in the neighborhood they were in. As it was, Rogue made it to the scene well before the men did. She was surprised to find that the argument had taken place at the destination she was headed to anyways.

She quickly took in the scene. A younger, white male was standing menacingly over an older, dark-skinned woman who was holding the side of her face as if the man had just struck her, which he probably had if the sound she had heard was any indication.

"What you think you're doing here?" yelled Rogue as she approached the woman on the ground.

"None of your business, stranger. Now get out of here before I call the authorities." the man said without looking at Rogue.

"Last I checked this was my property. So I recommend you leave, now."

With this comment the man did look at her, and still didn't believe her.

"Yeah right. Everyone knows in this town that the daughter of that old drunk isn't coming back. So why don't you take your little self back to the gutter you swam out of." the man sneered at Rogue.

"Like I said Shaw, you best leave before I get my daddy's shotgun from the mantle and run you off. Last I heard it wasn't illegal to shoot someone for trespassing." Rogue coolly said as she stared the man down.

The man grudgingly began to believe that Rogue was who she said she was. "This land and house are going to be mine soon, so don't you get too comfortable!" the man shouted before he turned around and hurried off.

"Yeah…over my dead body." Rogue whispered as she slowly turned her attention from the disappearing man to the woman looking up at her from the ground. By this time the three other x-men had been standing on the sidelines, watching the conversation between Rogue and the man. As the man left, the three x-men approached Rogue and the woman.

"Hey Maddie. How you doing?" Rogue quietly asked with a slight smile.

At this, the woman broke out in tears, and grabbed Rogue around her shoulders, bringing Rogue in for a fierce hug. "Anne Marie," Maddie repeated over and over while the three men looked on.


	4. Bad News All Around

**Sorry for the long delay. Life has a way of catching up to you...**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

**P.S. I do not own the men (if I did I would not be on Fanfiction writing about the x-men)**

(Two hours later, inside the kitchen of the house)

"Everyone said you weren't going to come back, Anne Marie, but I knew you would. A good girl like you wouldn't leave us all alone." Maddie said as she served the four x-men over the breakfast table. "Known you since was a baby. Never saw a better behaved girl. Always done what was right…"

"Maddie, you're going to end up embarrassing me," Rogue teased with a smile.

"Well, what'd you expect? Being gone so long and then coming home with guests! Not often that I can brag about you!"

"Aw, chère! Where you been hiding this belle fille?" Gambit playfully asked.

"Un-uh young man! Flattery will get you nowhere," Maddie tsked, while swatting his hands away from the pastries she had just sat out.

Hating to break the happy atmosphere but knowing she had to, Rogue broke into the conversation. "Now Maddie, what was Shaw doing here?"

"Well, you know how your daddy never wanted to get rid of the family place, not even when they offered him all that money for it when you were little. Ever since your daddy been dead…"

"Dead?" Questioned Kurt.

There was a brief moment of silence before Maddie turned to Rogue and asked, "You told these men why you're here, honey?"

"No Ma'am." She replied. "But in my defense, it was never my idea to drag them along on this trip. I would've been fine going by myself but the professor insisted that they go to. All part of team exercises and…"

"Now don't you go blaming anything on that nice man young lady. He done more good for you than your father ever did and I will hear nothing said against him. That understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Now, I'm going to leave this room for a little awhile and when I get back these boys here better be filled in on the goings on of this little trip y'all are on. I won't go explaining my end of this business until you explain yours!" Saying this Maddie left the room and Rogue was left with three sets of eyes staring at her.

After a brief silence, Wolverine jumped in with his usual two cents. "You heard the lady, Rogue. Ain't no sense sitting there being all silent when she's just going to come back and jump all over you again wince you haven't told us what we're here for."

After a brief hesitation, Rogue began to tell then why they were there.

"Several weeks ago, I was contacted by Maddie. She sent me a letter saying that my father was getting into some trouble. You see, when he found out that I was a mutant, he kicked me out of the house, claiming that I wasn't his daughter, not any more. Maddie sent me letters over the years describing how he began to develop a habit of drinking and gambling. Not a very good combo. He began to accumulate debt and had no way of paying it off. So, he began to sell of little bits of the family possessions. But I guess that's neither here nor there."

There was brief pause before she began again.

"Y'all remember that box I got at the mansion a few days ago? Well, it contained a letter from Maddie and my father's old hat, something he would never willingly part with. Seems he died a few nights ago. Went out to drink at One of Riley's places and was found the next day in the swamp…well, at least pieces of him were found."

The three x-men surrounding her had no clue what to say. Kurt was looking at his sister, wondering if she needed comforting. Gambit was left wondering what the heck he could do now that Rogue had just revealed so much of her past to them. Wolverine was the one who probably had the best perspective on her story. His philosophy: take out the important facts of her story and leave out the emotional involved problems connected to her story.

"So, basically we're here to tie up loose ends your father left behind?" Logan more stated than questioned.

"Bingo."

So saying, Maddie walked in, and immediately asked, "You done telling these boys why they're here?"

"Yes ma'am." Wolverine supplied for Rogue.

"Good. I won't have guests in my house who don't even know why they're here. You should've known better Anne Marie." Maddie lectured to Rogue.

"I know Maddie," Rogue timidly replied.

Upon hearing Rogue's soft reply and seeing her look of exhaustion, Maddie took pity on her. "Aw, honey. I'm sorry. I got all up in a tizzy and I forgot how this topic is affecting you. Must be harder on you than it is on me. I just lose track of these things when I go on a rampage."

"Rogue smiled lightly at this.

"There we go Honey. That's what I want to see. No droopy faces at my table today. Un-uh, not while I have anything to say. Now, darling, what were we talking about before I left?"

"I asked you why Shaw was here earlier." Rogue replied.

"Oh, I remember. (sigh) Well, you could probably guess for yourself why he was here. Ever since your daddy rejected his daddy's offer for the house when you were four, that family has been trying to find a way to get their hands on it. Now, that Mr. Shaw senior is our town's Mayor, things have just gotten worse. That man doesn't know when to stop and his son is a regular ship off the old block. Wants the property for himself. Won't stop until he gets too. That's the whole reason he was here earlier. Since your father was gone and no one expected you to come back, they been threatening me to leave. They've been saying that since there isn't any heir to this property and because of all your daddy's debt they had to confiscate the property."

Maddie took a long breathe after her story in order to catch her breath and so the x-men could take in what she had said. After she deemed it long enough of a break for them to assimilate the information, she said, "But now that Anne Marie is here, the only problem we need to solve is the problem of all that debt."

"Maddie," Rogue began, "it won't be as easy as all that. I think there's more going on here than just the problem of the property."

"Why do you say that, honey?" queried Maddie.

"Well, we already know that the MRD has set up a base close to this area. That alone is a problem. But more important than the base is the implications that go along with the whole involvement of the MRD in the area." Rogue replied.

"Honey, I'm a lot older than you and I don't just think of the significance of one little problem, so you better just spell it out for me."

Rogue began her brief explanation, "(sigh) If the MRD is in an area that the town has possession of that means that the government and the leaders of the MRD had to have been in contact with the leadership of the town, which means…"

She was immediately interrupted by Maddie's shout of, "Mr. Shaw Senior!"

"Right. But that's not it. Given that this area consists of a small population, is seems to me that the MRD is here to do something that needs as few witnesses as possible. I believe that they're conducting some kind of illegal procedures that need to be kept as top secret as possible. That' means that Mr. Shaw senior either has to be in on whatever they're doing or the MRD is taking advantage of him." Rogue finished

"Well, if I had any money to my name, my bet would be on the second possibility." Maddie quickly stated.

"Me too, Maddie."

"How much of the population in the area have ties to or are mutants?" Logan asked.

"Oh, there's not very many. The last few mutants born in town were born around the time that Anne Marie was born. Ever since then, they've been routed out of town. Not many folks around here that will take someone being different. Especially if that person is family." Maddie answered since Rogue had no clue as to the goings on of the community.

"Mon ami, didn't Cerebro say that there had been an influx of mutants in the area lately?" Gambit asked Logan.

"Yeah. But each time Cerebro spotted a mutant signature in this area, it would almost immediately disappear. Chuck said that the blips that Cerebro kept spotting must have just been malfunctions still in the system from when we had to reboot the system a few weeks ago." Logan replied.

"Sounds like we have a few more things we need to take care of before we leave Mississippi." Kurt said as he thought aloud.

"Yeah. I already figured as much" Rogue responded, thinking that maybe it was a good thing these three had tagged along.


	5. Friend or Foe?

**You know, it is hard to write this story. I would appreciate any comments that anyone who reads this has. However, only constructive comments will be acknowledged. **

**So, I ask that people review. After all, comments help me get ideas going and I feel more like posting another chapter sooner than I normally do after reading helpful comments. **

**On that note, please read and enjoy.**

**(Disclaimer: I do not own X-men)**

Chapter 5

(Same day, some minutes after end of last scene)

"So where do we head from here?" Kurt asked.

"I head about on my business and see what I learn." replied Rogue.

"Ya mean alone, petit?" Gambit inquired.

Wolverine quickly interjected, "Not a chance in-"

Maddie interrupted, "Watch your mouth young man!"

There were various reactions from all four X-men at this comment. Wolverine shut up and had a disgruntled look on his face, Gambit was looking at Maddie with something close to admiration in his eyes, and, as can be expected, both Kurt and Rogue were laughing, Kurt because of the look on Wolverine's face, and Rogue because of the reason for the look on his face. After all, who enjoys being called a 'young man' by someone who is younger than you are?

When Rogue and Kurt had finally calmed down, Rogue was finally able to defend her position on heading out alone.

"I have to go alone. There is no way to get around that. Y'all are strangers in a small town, how do y'all think that'll pan out? I'll tell ya. They'll be suspicious. New men in town, one looking rough around the edges, one who's a Swamp Rat, and one who seems completely out of place with the other two. Yeah, they'll just love that combo. So, the only way to get any information will be to go alone. At least they know me."

"But can't we go with you when you go to see the man at the bank and the lawyer who goes over the will?" Kurt asked.

Rogue shook her head. "No. None of you can go in with me to see my father's account with his lawyer. None of you are related to me by blood and none of you are my husband. That's the only way they would allow any of you guys in with me. They have a privacy policy that only those involved in the business can be present at the time that said business is discussed. Other than that, those who have a vested interest in the business (such as a spouse or blood relation) can be present at that time."

"Yes, sir. It's true. They won't even allow ME to go in. And I've known the family for years." Maddie said in order to support Rogue's statement.

"That's a load of cra….ud," Logan quickly changed his word choice at a look from Maddie.

Rogue smiled at the small interchange between Logan and Maddie. "Well, that's the way it's going to be. Get use to it."

There was a brief silence before Logan ground out, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Immensely," was the only reply Rogue gave before leaving.

Rogue knew that it would be a better idea to see the lawyer first, in order to figure out the financial difficulties her father had gotten into, as well as seeing to the will. After visiting with the lawyer, she planned on going to the bank to see what her father had left in his safety deposit box.

As she traveled to the lawyer's, she noticed various people looking at her strangely. That was to be expected though. Staying away from a town for over ten years, and then coming back, some people were bound to feel like they knew you but can't quite pinpoint how they knew you.

'Can't believe I'm here. Never wanted to come back. Never…so, why am I here?' Rogue thought. Just as this thought crossed her mind, she passed a small alcove in a building. Inside this alcove was a small park. As Rogue saw this, she began to think of her past in this small town.

**Flashback 1 (**Start**)**

_A little, red-headed girl, younger than five years old, was playing on the playground equipment._

"_Daddy! Look at me!" A much younger Anne Marie yelled to her as she swung even higher on her swing._

"_Be careful! I don't want you to fall." Her father yelled back, as he laughed at her antics. Just as he said this, he felt his black cowboy hat being lifted from his head. _

_His wife smiled at him. "She's just being a kid. Let her be, Honey." They both laughed as they watched their daughter swing on the small swing set._

**Flashback 1 (**End**)**

**Flashback 2 (**Start**)**

_(A few years after the previous flashback)_

_A girl sat in a swing set. Her multi-colored hair swayed in the breeze. She was alone. In her hand was a small picture of a woman, who looked like the little girl, minus the white streak in her hair. Tears fell down the face of the girl. She was dressed all in black._

**Flashback 2 (**End**)**

'Too many memories in this town, and not many of them good memories.' Rogue thought, trying to shake the sudden chill her thoughts had caused. 'Not a bad little town, but I would never want to live here again. Not with how I feel now.'

Just as she said this, a young woman approached her. "Excuse me, miss, I can't help it, but I feel that I know you from somewhere. Have you visited this town before?"

Rogue looked at the woman and knew right away who it was. Carol, her friend from elementary school. Yet, in Rogue's mind, their relationship was anything but friendly.

"You could say that Sugar." Rogue dryly replied. Rogue could practically see the wheels spinning inside Carol's mind. Right now, she probably was wondering why Rogue looked familiar as well as why she sounded familiar too.

"Oh…ok." Carol hesitantly said after the slightly hostile tone Rogue had in her short reply. After a brief, awkward silence, Carol quickly brightened and (with slight embarrassment) quickly blurted out, "How rude of me! I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Carol." Finishing this sentence, Carol waited expectantly for this "stranger" to reply with her own name.

Rogue quickly had to decide whether she wanted to tell Carol who she really was or if she wanted to stay nameless. Knowing that eventually the news was going to get out that she was in town, she decided that she might as well get this meeting over with.

"Most people call me Rogue at my request. Few of the people I hang out with know my real name, but you should remember me. I was born in this town. My name is Anna Marie."

At this declaration, Carol went stock-still. Needless to say, she was shell-shocked. Carol had been the last person to see Rogue before she left their town. She knew that Rogue would never have returned if she was still the same person she had been when she left town. Add to this the antagonistic way Rogue was treating her, Carol knew that although Rogue wasn't the same person who left town many years ago, she still had issues she needed to work out.

"Marie? So…you did come back after all. I was wondering if the rumors were true."

"So, you still listen to rumors, huh? Shouldn't have expected anything else I suppose."

"Now that isn't fair Marie, and you know it!"

"Do I? After all, you're part of the reason I never wanted to come back, or have you forgotten?" Rogue waited for a brief moment before saying, "Nothing to say to that? Thought so." Considering that the end of their conversation, Rogue began to walk off, continuing on her way to the lawyer's office, and all the while her mind was stuck on all the mean things her so-called friend had done and said when Rogue still lived in this town. Rogue didn't know it, but Carol's mind was stuck in the past as well.

(Series of flashbacks)

**.**

**.**

**.**

"_Here, let me help you with that." A little girl with blond hair said to the other girl who had two white streaks in her hair. The second girl had dropped her ice cream while walking back to the swing set and that was what the blond girl was asking to help with._

"_Come on, I'll ask my daddy to buy us some more ice cream, okay?"_

_As the second girl slowly stopped her crying she replied with a small murmured, "Okay." With that one soft response, the two girls ran off to find some ice cream._

**.**

**.**

**.**

_A little blond haired girl was helping up her friend as she told her, "I am so mad. I can't believe that jerk would push you down like that. I'm going to go over there and…"_

"_Don't bother with it. I'm fine."_

"_But that little brat thinks he can get away with anything just because he's the mayor's son! That isn't fair!"_

"_I know, but all he has are people who pretend to be his friends. I have something better than that."_

"_Yeah and what would that be?"  
_

"_You, my best friend."_

_With that confession most of the anger the blond girl felt drifted away. The two girls began to laugh as they headed back to their classroom._

**.**

**.**

**.**

"_You stole my boyfriend!" Carol_ _yelled at Marie._

"_What?" Marie responded, very confused._

"_Don't play all innocent. I know you stole him from me. Cindy told me she saw you two together and that she thought you were 'a little too cozy' together."_

"_You're going to believe that gossip mongering queen bee over me?"_

"_I already knew that my boyfriend was seeing some other chick before Cindy came to me with that little bit of information on you."_

"_Yeah. I told you months ago that he was playing you, but you wouldn't listen and to top it off you're going to blame me when the person you should be blaming was the one who fed you false information!"_

"_Yeah right! Don't give me that. I noticed awhile ago that you were getting a lot more distant lately and now I know why! It's because you were messing around with MY boyfriend. I can't forgive you for that." With that lat statement, Carol stormed out of the room._

'_Yeah and what about me…huh? What am I supposed to do now?' Marie thought as she watched her only friend in the world walk right out of her life._

**.**

**.**

**.**

"_Did you hear? Janie told me that Marie hooked up with Cody over the summer." Carol said to her little clique of friends. She knew that this little tidbit of gossip would soon be running through the school. _

"_But I thought Cody was going out with Liz?"_

"_I know! Right?"_

_Carol couldn't wait for the latest gossip to catch Marie's ears._

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"_Marie, you'll never make it outside of this town!"_

"_Yeah! Well, what do you expect me to do inside this town, huh? After everything you started and with everyone listening to what you said about me, do you really think I would be able to survive here? I mean my own __**Father**__ can't even look at me! Oh! Wait...I forgot…I'm not actually his daughter according to him, so why did I ever expect anything else from this stupid town."_

"_Marie, you can't leave."_

"_Yeah? Watch me!"_

(End series of Flashbacks)

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End of Chapter 5

**IMPORTANT**: I am thinking of introducing a bit of romance into this story, possibly a love triangle involving Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine. Please let me know what you think.

Until Next Time,

Blazin-ember


	6. Troy Edwards

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or anything else relating to the X-Men

Chapter 6

(Back with the other three X-men)

"Wonder what time she'll be back," Kurt drearily sighed out.

"Ma petite will be back after she gets done with the bank man and the lawyer, shouldn't take more than a few hours at the most." Gambit replied. "In the mean time Gambit thinks he'll go look around town a bit, see what he can find out about the 'new mine' being built."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea young man." Maddie quickly cut off Gambit's senseless journey into town.

"But ma chère, Gambit just thinks that a little surveillance will help ma petite with her affairs. After all, the sooner she gets her business settled, the sooner we leave, and the sooner she be out of danger."

"Can it! You just want to follow Rogue around because you can't keep your eyes off of her for two minutes straight." Logan growled at Gambit.

"Well, excuse me, Mon ami. I hadn't noticed that you were keeping track of where my eyes were wondering."

"I said 'can it' Cajun! This isn't the time to pull out your wannabe lover-boy act."

"Please! Logan, Gambit! We must not fight at a time like this. Rogue needs us to be…"

"Keep out of this Kurt! Me and the Cajun are in the middle of a …serious discussion."

"Oui, Mon ami. Logan and I have been dying to have this discussion for awhile now, and since Rogue is currently not here to interfere, now is the best time to have this little talk."

"Yeah, so stay out of this Kurt! As for you Cajun, I'm getting really tired of your eyes trailing after Rogue. She doesn't need a thief like you going after her. Especially not when she can't have a relationship like other people can thanks to her abilities. You'll just hurt her more in the end." Logan bit out as he glared at Gambit.

Gambit looked momentarily shocked at this (insightful) tirade from Logan before he jumped back into the dispute. "Where my eyes go is none of your business, as I already stated. You make it sound as if you have feelings for her that go beyond being a teammate, Logan. Gambit thinks you're just jealous of his forward approach to Rogue's feelings. Gambit knows you're too much of a coward to fight back for the woman you got feelings for. After all, you let Jean slip right out of fingers, **numerous** times."

At this remark, Logan seemed to lose control of his emotions. At the same time that he began to withdraw his claws, Gambit began to charge a card. Maddie, meanwhile decided that this had gone too far, what she was having trouble with was deciding how to distract the two men from their useless bickering that was more than likely going to destroy the house. Quickly deciding that the best distraction would be to mention Marie in some way, Maddie shouted out, "Look here comes Marie! She must have forgotten something when she left earlier."

At this both men became somewhat pale, wondering if Rogue had overheard any of their brief exchange, what they didn't know was that Rogue hadn't forgotten anything. In fact, Rogue wasn't really there at all. Quickly looking up and toward Maddie, they soon realized that Maddie had mentioned Rogue as a distraction. At this realization, they would have continued their dispute, but Maddie had other plans. While she still had their attention directed at her, she decided to take control of the situation.

Maddie quickly seized Wolverine around his upper arm, and while ushering him toward the stairs, she began to diffuse the situation. "You know, I have all these little things that I haven't been able to get to due to these old knees of mine. It would be so nice if you could help me out."

Logan, looking at Maddie as if she were crazy, silently followed her up the stairs that led upstairs where the bedrooms were located.

'Whew, that was a close one. If that had gone any further I don't think Rogue would have had a home to come back to.' Kurt mentally relaxed as Logan was led away by Maddie.

"Well, now that Logan is gone, Gambit thinks he will go and look about town and see what he can find out for Rogue."

Just as he was about to head out Maddie called out for him. "Gambit dear, please come up here. Seems there are a few more things that need to be done than I thought."

Sighing and mentally cringing at the thought of how much work there must be, Gambit slowly trudged up the stairs.

'Rogue better hurry up. I don't think Maddie can handle those two for long. Every time Rogue is away for too long they end up in a fight. One of these days they're going to end up going too far in their little…disagreements. I hope neither of them gets too hurt when that time comes.' Kurt thought as he watched Gambit head up the stairs.

After discovering that her father had practically nothing in his safety deposit box, other than two old photos of her mother, Rogue went over to the lawyer's office and would have went directly into the building if she hadn't noticed the horribly gaudy sports car parked next to the building her father's lawyer was in. Immediately figuring out whom that car belonged to, Rogue knew that, first off, the car belonged to one Mr. Shaw junior, and, secondly, that there was no way that Shaw was in the hardware store next to the lawyer's office. This meant that, obviously, Shaw had to be in the lawyer's building. Just another bright spot to her otherwise abysmal day.

'Well, he can't be here just for fun, so what exactly could he be up to? There's no way he'll talk to me and if he knows I'm in the building he'll just shut up and leave. So the question becomes: What should I do… well, I could always 'overhear' the conversation from the window seeing as how it's a one story building, and there aren't that many people around.'

Acting quickly, Rogue went around the side of the building, and (avoiding being seen through the windows) she rapidly made her way toward the back windows. Luckily for Rogue, this part of town had been built with minimal space between the buildings barely big enough for her. No one in their right mind would be sneaking around in the small spaces between the buildings.

Slowly approaching each windowsill, she stopped at each for a second to listen and see if Shaw was in the room that the window belonged to. When she neared the end of the wall she was pressed against, she noticed a window that was slightly ajar. Nearing this particular window, she heard two voices murmuring. After coming to this window, Rogue crouched down to listen to this conversation.

"You told me she wouldn't come back to town let alone come back with unknown men who could screw everything up! What the hell do we do now?"

Rogue had no doubt that that exact voice belonged to Shaw.

"Relax before **you** do something that will screw this up."

This voice belonged to an unknown man. Rogue could only assume that the voice belonged to one of the lawyers in the building. Perhaps this man was even a newcomer to the town.

"Me do something to mess this up? **IT** already is messed up or haven't you noticed?"

"Yes…things are more…complicated now but perhaps the presence of these men will turn out to be…beneficial to us?"

"Beneficial! Beneficial how? There are two of them that look like they are more than a little rough around the edges and who knows what the third one can do! I mean if they're all hanging around with a mutant that has to mean they must be mutants too. And since we don't know for sure who they are or what they can do they could screw everything up. They're unknown factors! Everything we've been working for could come crashing down at any moment with those men here, I mean we didn't even have a plan for the possibility of that drunk's daughter showing up and now…"

"That is where you are wrong. My…colleagues and I have been hoping that young Marie would show up to take care of her father's affairs after his death. You could say that things were…well planned out in the event that she returned to this particular town. As for her companions, they can be taken care of. They may even become useful should they have certain…abilities the good doctor desires."

"Fine. You take care of those outsiders. I won't be blamed if something goes wrong. I was just here to warn you that more pawns were being added to this dicey game you started. I don't want your overestimation of yourself and your underestimation of them to mess everything up for me."

At this exclamation from Shaw, Rogue heard a chair being moved quickly followed by the sounds of footsteps and a slamming door. A muffled 'Fool' could be heard from the only remaining occupant in the room.

'_Good Doctor, huh? Wonder who exactly that is?' _Rogue wondered while silently reliving her dream from last night. _'And who exactly are his colleagues? They must have a certain reputation if he was hesitant to mention them.' _

As she was pondering exactly what could be going on in this town, she made her way back to the front of the building, making sure she waited until she heard the roar of the engine in Shaw's car before returning to the street. After straightening her hair and clothing she headed to the front door of the building and drawing in a sharp breath she slowly entered the building.

The first person she met was a secretary by the name of Linda Jones. Rogue was not familiar with this name, meaning the woman must have been relatively new to town, especially if Maddie had mentioned her in the letters she sent Rogue. After all, Maddie knew everything about everybody in town and she would have made sure to get to know anyone knew to town.

Walking up to this woman, Rogue politely attempted to get Ms. Jones attention. However, she was so 'busy' answering phones that Rogue failed to gain her attention for several minutes. When she finally got Ms. Jones full attention, the woman wouldn't even listen to her enquiries about Troy Edwards, her father's lawyer. The woman didn't believe that such a young woman would have any need to visit such a prestigious lawyer.

When the phone began ringing again, and Ms. Jones decided to put Rogue on hold yet again, she finally chose to take matters into her own hands. She left the secretary's station, and began to walk down the hallway to find Mr. Edward's office on her own.

"Miss! Miss! You can't do that! Get back here! HEY! Get back here you little brat!" Shouted Ms Jones from down the hallway.

''_Little Brat'… yeah right. Like I'm gonna listen to you.' _Rogue thought as she walked down the hallway. She could practically hear the secretary frantically calling security as she hurried down the hallway, making sure to look at each plaque outside each door.

Coming to the end of the hallway, Rogue finally met one of the so-called Security men. Roughly about 6 feet in height, the man could easily have passed for a professional football player, although he seemed to have more of a "come near me and I'll break you in half" kind of attitude. Funny thing was, Rogue knew she could take him; all she needed was to take off one of her gloves.

"Miss, I'm afraid you're in an off limits area, especially since you don't have an appointment and you don't even have anyone's permission to be in this area."

So saying, the security man grabbed Rogue's arm and roughly began to drag her down the hallway.

Rogue, fed up with the treatment the people in this building were giving her, yelled "Listen, right now I have a lot of things to do and all I need to right now is to see Mr. Edwards so I can go over my father's affairs and since y'all seem hell bent to keep me from doing what I need to do, I figure I…"

"Stewart. Leave her be. She's the daughter of one of my clients. Linda should have given me a call to let me know she was here. I have been expecting her for…quite some time now."

"Oh! Sorry Sir. I had no idea. I only received a call saying there was an intruder in the building. I had been told to immediately…"

"Yes Stewart…I know what you've been told but as I just said, she is a client now. So Let her go." Hissed her father's lawyer.

"Yes Sir! So sorry ma'am. Won't happen again. Have a nice visit." Stewart hurriedly said as he hastily dropped Rogue's arm and backed away.

The lawyer watched as Stewart walked away before addressing Rogue again. Meanwhile, Rogue was stuck in place having recognized that particular voice. After all, she had very recently heard said voice discussing her and the other x-men in town only minutes before. Rogue slowly turned around to see Troy Edwards, her father's lawyer and apparent conspirator.

"Well, shall we step into my office?"


	7. Accidents

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, never have, more than likely never will (sigh)

Chapter 7

"Is there a name you prefer to be called?" Troy Edwards asked.

"Marie is fine, sir."

"Very well…Marie. You may not know this, but your father was in debt. Actually, that is a bit of an understatement considering the sheer amount of money he borrowed, spent, and otherwise lost in the past several years. It really is something of a miracle that he managed to keep the house while he was increasing the amount of money he was spending."

Rogue couldn't help but watch every move Mr. Edwards made as he talked. She didn't know what to make of him, thanks to the conversation she had overheard between him and Shaw. She was on edge around this man, but knew she couldn't show any of her discomfort, especially if she wanted to find out exactly what was going on in town and how this man was involved.

"And what exactly was he spending so much money on?"

"Well, from what I know, your father was a very intense gambler and, I believe, that most of the money he had went to a lot of the gambling rings around town, both legal and illegal."

"So what does this mean, in terms of everything that my father has left?"

"Well, there isn't much left, besides the house. Most everything else has been sold or auctioned off in order to pay off your father's debt. However, the debt was very large, so several of the other town residents have made offers on the house your father owned after assuming that it would be auctioned off to help cover the debt. Your father had quite a…reputation around town."

"Yes, I can only imagine exactly what kind of a 'reputation' he had." Rogue quietly replied as she digested the information that Mr. Edwards was giving her. However, she knew that there had to be more going on than just her father's debt, particularly when considering the fact that Mr. Edwards and his 'colleagues' had 'hoped' she would make an appearance in town. Rogue had the feeling that, somehow, her father's death and subsequent financial problems due to his debt were more than just coincidence. There had to be a connection between the two and Mr. Edwards. She just had to figure out what it was, and fast, considering Scott had given them one week here with no interference from the rest of the x-men team.

"So, basically what you're saying is that the house is up for grabs, to the highest bidder of course, because my father left nothing behind to take care of his bills."

"That is correct. I'm afraid that there is little you can do to change the situation."

Rogue agreed with him, just to make sure he felt secure in his knowledge about her situation. After all, the Professor would be happy to help out in any way he could, so Rogue was sure she wouldn't lose her childhood home. She didn't want to lose the memories she had that were attached to that house. She made have had a falling out with her father, but that house should still be hers to do with as she wanted and the house was the last connection she had to her mother. She didn't want to lose that.

"I suppose the mayor and his son are two of the bidders for the house?"

"Why, yes, they are. What makes you say that?" Mr. Edwards replied with a dash of suspicion.

Rogue knew he was suspicious because of his relationship to the mayor's son (a.k.a. Shaw) that she had seen earlier. So, she answered him as nonchalantly as possible, "It's just that they had previously tried to take our house from us before, so I just made the assumption that they were at their same old tricks."

"Oh, of course! I was unaware of that. I only came to your town a few months ago and your father hired me when his old lawyer moved away unexpectedly."

Obviously, her reply had alleviated his worries about her having some information on his connection to Shaw. In any case, Rogue knew it wouldn't be beneficial for Mr. Edwards if he was connected to someone who had previously caused trouble for her. His reputation as a 'prestigious lawyer' for her father would be tarnished if she associated him with prior predicaments her family had had.

"Do you know why my father's previous lawyer moved away?"

"Not really. As I understand it he had the opportunity to…have his skills better employed elsewhere."

Noticing the pause, Rogue wondered exactly what he meant by that comment. Shouldn't he have said 'had the opportunity to use his skills elsewhere?' From what he said it sounded as if someone was forcing the old lawyer to use his skills somewhere else. Then again, what if his skills as a lawyer weren't what Mr. Edwards was talking about? There was something going on here, and Rogue had to figure it out soon, before something happened to her or one of the three men with her.

"I see. What made you decide to work in this town? After all, it isn't that big of a town and if you were looking for a way to further your prestige and become a well-known and sought after lawyer, this town certainly isn't likely to help you out."

"I am not concerned with furthering my career as a lawyer. I prefer to remain…behind the scenes. Gaining a reputation would just lead to…complications. After all, if I gained a reputation as a very good lawyer, than I would have to work harder to keep my reputation. Not to mention that many people would begin to seek me out in order to solicit my services. No, I am perfectly placed at the moment. I have no need to change my status."

"Of course. May I ask if you have any other investments in town currently?"

"Or course you may ask. Ask as many things as you would like. Currently, I have no investments **in** town but I have been looking into a few things."

"What sort of things?"

"Oh, this and that. Nothing to concern you, young lady. Now, I'm terribly sorry but I have an appointment soon, a **scheduled** appointment, and I need to get my material for the case prepared, so I am afraid you are going to have to leave."

"Of course, Mr. Edwards. I wouldn't want to impose. I'll see what to do about the financial situation my father left behind."

"Please, call me Troy. And make sure you get that situation under control, Marie. Off the record, my advice would be to take whatever offer the Shaw's give you. If you didn't I imagine life could become pretty rough around here for anyone close to you."

Pausing for half a second, Rouge filed away his familiarity, both to Shaw and to herself. While plastering a very bright (but fake) smile on her face, she then replied, "Will do…Troy. You have a nice day." She calmly walked away while silently deliberating over his hesitations in the conversation, his obvious familiarity to the town and its citizens, and his not so subtle hints about his connection to Shaw and the possible threat to her loved ones. Overall, her day couldn't get any worse.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It is never a good thing when the first thing you hear upon entering your home is a gigantic boom followed by a very loud crash. However, if said crash is followed by swearing that is only slightly louder than normal speech, then the crash was not as bad as it could have been. Screaming or dead silence is what you have to watch out for immediately after a loud crash. Screaming meant that someone was either seriously hurt or was currently being tied up. Silence meant either the person was dead or was currently hiding from whatever (or whoever) had caused the crash. Swearing, on the other hand, only meant that the accident had not been that bad, but more importantly, it meant there was no attack on the house. These were the first few thoughts that Rogue had as she walked into her childhood home.

Fortunately, Rogue heard Logan swearing while Maddie was repeatedly asking if he was all right. Rogue could only sigh in relief at hearing him swearing. It certainly meant that the house was not being attacked at the moment and it also meant that no one was hurt at the moment. She began to walk up the stairs to see what was going on. When she arrived at the scene, she had to laugh at the mess. From what she could tell, Gambit had more than likely sent some kind of charge through a wire that led directly to the light that Logan was currently sprawled under. Maddie was bending over Logan, asking if he was all right, while Logan was looking at her as if he wished she would move so he could get to Gambit and kill him. Rogue knew that Maddie was probably leaning over Logan just so she could prevent him from harming Gambit. Maddie had already figured out that the two men were not on friendly terms and this prank was just going to spark another fight, and there was no way she was going to able to diffuse another tense situation like that one.

Rogue inwardly laughed at the scene; out loud she said "You two will never learn, will you?"

Every eye in the room immediately went to her and the tension in the room immediately decreased.

"Ma chère, you have returned." Gambit immediately responded with a smile on his face. He began to walk over to her to 'properly' greet her. Unfortunately for him, his path took him near Logan, who had enough room to 'accidentally' place his foot in Gambit's way, causing Gambit to fall unceremoniously onto the floor. This was too much for Rogue. She impulsively laughed out loud at the scene Gambit, Logan and Maddie made in that tiny room. The two men on the floor could only look at her in quiet distress at her having witnessed their rather clumsy 'accidents.'

"I have to say that this has been the highlight of an otherwise abysmal day." Rogue said.

Logan and Gambit glanced at each other and then back at Rogue. "What do you mean, Rogue?" Wolverine asked, as both Gambit and he got up from the floor.

Rogue gave a small sigh, closed her eyes for a second, and then replied, "We might as well get everyone together and get some food before I tell you. I have a feeling you're not going to like what I have to tell you."

To hear Rogue actually admit that, Wolverine and Gambit knew that something more than familial troubles was bothering Rogue. Though, what exactly it was, remained to be seen.

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So that's it for chapter 7. Thank you all so much for reading. I would like to thank Danibat for reviewing the last chapter. Thank you for the ideas! Keep them coming.

Until next time,

Blazin-ember


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